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Thank your boss!

For those of you who are pumping at work and your boss is supportive of your decision, you may want to just send a note or email of thanks... I emailed my boss yesterday just to let her know I really appreciated her being so understanding and supportive... And just something so simple as an email really made her day... Just from reading on this forum, it's clear that there are some workplaces that are not so supportive, so let's make sure we thank our employers if they are!

Re: Thank your boss!

Re: Thank your boss!

This is a fabulous idea -- and as a boss who is supportive of nursing moms (i am one myself, afterall!), I can share a quickie with you about how much something like this would mean -- and how the opposite really hurts!

One of the women who works for me had a baby three months after the birth of my own DS. I've been as supportive as I can be; did an extended maternity leave for her, gave her an entire newborn wardrobe for her son (my DS's handmedowns), continue to allow totally flexible work schedules, part time, as many breaks as needed to pump, provided a new laptop computer so she could work from home on days that she was supposed to be in but just couldn't manage it, even allowed the new mom to bring in her DS when she has been necessary at meetings or something but had last-minute issues with childcare. I've personally spent alot of time and energy (and > $1K in funds from my operating budget) getting a new secure, safe, clean, comfortable lactation room put in to our building so that she and several other new moms have a reliable private place to pump. While that was getting put together, I made my own office available (and private) whenever she needed to pump. My office has even been the locale of a playpen for some of her son's visits to work... Anyway, it just about broke my heart when she brought up how she can't wait to someday, if/when she leaves this place of employment, to write a letter/expose on how unsupportive the place is, on the whole, to working moms. I wanted to cry. While yes, in general, this university is not THE most sensitive of environments, I've gone out of my way to make it work and to provide as supportive and easy a situation as possible. Yeah, so I probably shouldn't have taken this personally, but boy, I did.

I can tell you, a one-line "thank you for thinking of me and my needs" e-mail would be so welcomed. I'd cry at that too - but for happy reasons.

Re: Thank your boss!

good idea.
I actually have to use my (male) boss's office to pump. He's very supportive- his wife BF'd their 4 kids and he says that they are healthier because of it. But I know it's an inconvenience for him. When I stop pumping at 1 year, I am planning on getting him a card and a GC to his favorite restaurant as a thank you for letting me use his office instead of a bathroom and for generally making a potentially difficult or embarrassing situation easy on me.

Re: Thank your boss!

Thanks for this suggestion. I'm going to give my boss a nice thank you note for my son's first birthday, he has made this first year so pleasant for me, I really wouldn't have been able to be the mother I wanted to be without his support.

Re: Thank your boss!

You know...I did this very thing just yesterday as my DS will be a year this weekend. Wrote my boss a thankyou note and left it in his office with a bottle of his favorite wine. He was obviously very surprised, pleased and generally happy for the gesture and that he had been a help.... it never hurts to say a thank you. To the original poster of this idea: great suggestion!!
jsmom

Re: Thank your boss!

What a great idea! My (male) boss is very supportive of me pumping and is allowing breaks for pumping and has even encouraged me to take an extended lunch hour so I can nurse her at daycare.

Our daycare worker has also been really supportive - I talked to SO many that were unwilling to handle breast milk! But she's been nice about letting me come by to nurse and nursing before I leave and when I pick up. I don't think we could be making this work without her!

I will definately write them both notes, and I think I'll get our daycare lady a gift certificate or something.

Does anyone know if LLL makes a certificate of appreciation or something we could buy? I think our daycare lady would be SO PROUD if she could display a certificate indicating that she was supportive of nursing Moms!